Love And Light
John's Epistles • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old command that you have had from the beginning. The old command is the word you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother or sister is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother or sister remains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother or sister is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he’s going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
This is part 4 of our continuing sermon series through John’s Epistles, or letters, exploring what the apostle has to teach us in these letters about how to be better disciples and how to better make disciples. So far we have explored how John was an eyewitness to the physically present Jesus and his desire that we share together in fellowship, along with John’s earnest call to us that we should walk in the light and keep God’s commands.
This is the first place in the letter where John refers to his readers as “αγαπητοι” traditionally translated as “beloved,” though many modern translations ditch this for something more familiar to our age. CSB translates this as “dear friends.” While I quite like the CSB I think it misses the mark on this one, because I believe that when John calls his readers beloved he means it on more than one level. The translation “dear friend” translates this word as if the emphasis is only on John’s love for them, but in the same way that John calls himself “the beloved disciple” I believe he means also to call them beloved by God with the same word. Plus translating it as “dear friends” removes the root word “love” from the equation entirely, which seems unwarranted.
In any case after John has finished talking about proving we know God by keeping His commands he begins to answer the question, “what is the nature of God’s commands?” And returns to his metaphor of darkness and light to contrast living a life of hate with living a life of darkness.
A Command That’s Old and New
A Command That’s Old and New
I revently discovered in a conversation with my oldest brother Ryan that he and I share a common interest, which is the restoration of old things. Our interests takes slightly different forms however. Ryan is interested in things like tools and electronics being restored. Personally I like the idea of restoring old furniture. I’ve never really done that, but I think I would really enjoy it. When I was working for Kesa painting in Ontario I did a few jobs where I painted some old cabinets to refresh them. I loved the process of taking them apart, sanding off the finish and then carefully painting them and reassembling them. When I was puzzling through the first two verses of today’s passage this is what I thought of when I asked myself the question: “how can something be old and new at the same time.” John says in
Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old command that you have had from the beginning. The old command is the word you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
From the start of this letter John has emphasized that he isn’t bringing a new message but reminding them of the same message that they started with. Here again he emphasizes this point but speaking of commands rather than words or messages. This follows directly from the previous verse, which gives obedience to God’s commands as the way that we know we are in Christ.
John uses very vague language in this verse, but we must assume that his intended audience would be able to tell what he’s referring to. The commandment that they have had from the beginning, which is the word they have heard. This is in all likelihood the command to love God and your neighbor, especially judging by the transition in verses 9-10 to contrasting loving and hating your brother.
Truly this isn’t a new commandment, because even when Jesus gave it He was quoting the Old Testament.
Psalm 103:8 (CSB)
The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.
Even before He disclosed it to man the nature of God has been a nature of love, and the intention of mankind was to live in love towards one another. In a way this makes love for God and others the oldest and greatest of all commands.
At once John is describing a command that is not new, and yet is new at the same time: the command has been around since the beginning but given new life by Christ and first truly fulfilled in those that follow Him. It’s also important to note that there are two Greek words for new in the New Testament, one which refers to new in the sense of recent in time, and another which is used here that refers to new in terms of freshness and the quality of being new. The result? That darkness, or in other words sin, ignorance, etc, is passing away and the true light is already shining. This is possible of course because of Jesus, but because it’s true in Jesus it’s also true in us because He dwells in us.
So what does this mean for us as Jesus’ disciples? Well first it shows us the timeless nature of God’s commands and the need to stick to His word. His commands to mankind really have stayed the same throughout all of history, though the Old Covenant and the New Covenant have stricking differences. He has been and always will be about love, and we need to stick to that.
Second, we should be making God’s commands fresh and new every day. This means abiding in Christ so that His true light can shine in us, and asking ourselves every day how we can love new people, or show love in new ways or reach to a new and higher level of showing love and kindness.
In sum, we should be people who follow the commands of God that are both not new and are new at the same time.
The Way of Hate
The Way of Hate
In any profession it’s important that you learn not only those things which you need to do, but also those things which you really shouldn’t do. One time, when I was working for Kesa painting, there had been a crew that hadn’t quite taken their time when they were priming a newly built house and they had accidentally sprayed a whole lot of primer on the bare wood stairs. Now my boss had sent me as a fairly new employee to go sand that paint off as a sort of an object lesson on why it’s important to make absolutely sure that you carefully cover any bare wood that isn’t going to be painted before you spray primer. In any case, if you didn’t know it’s nearly impossible to sand primer out of the wood grain and it was proving to be a long frustrating day. Well later in the day my crew leader had a not so brilliant idea that seemed find to us both in the moment. See there’s this product we would sometimes use we called Methyl which was excellent at stripping paint off of things that shouldn’t have been painted. So my crew leader decided it would be a good idea to try and use the methyl to try and clean off the primer from the stairs.
It was then that I learned why so many products tell you to test them in an inconspicuous area. The thing is, it did work after a fashion. The paint came off. The problem? The chemical had some sort of reaction with the wood and the big massive spot out in the open that we cleaned with the methyl slowly turned irreversably green. So I now vividly remember something a painter should never do. Don’t remove paint from wood with methyl alcohol.
The Bible likewise though it is concerned with teaching us to do justice, be merciful, treat others the way we would like to be treated, give to the poor, etc. It also contains a good number of bits of advice about things that we should not do. Hating people is pretty high up on the list of these things to avoid. This is why John says in verse 9
The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother or sister is in the darkness until now.
Previously John told us that anyone claiming to be in fellowship with God who walks in darkness is a liar. Now we learn at least part of what it means to walk in darkness. You aren’t in the light if you are hating your brother, therefore you are in the darkness. To hate one’s brother (fellow Christian) you must be living in darkness and deceit. He elaborates in verse 11
But the one who hates his brother or sister is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he’s going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Hatred for your brother blinds you. It removes you from your fellowship with the Church and with God and leaves you groping in the dark. The danger of the dark is not in the dark itself but in the things that it hides. Things which you would have easily avoided in the light might trip you up or destroy you if you come across them in the dark. John wants to paint this picture in our heads of people walking on two paths, the path of darkness and the path of light. Here he clarifies that the path of darkness is the path of hatred. The one who hates his brother or sister is wandering on a path and can’t see a foot in front of them. Their groping around in the dark. What do you suppose happens commonly to someone in that sort of situation? They trip, they stumble. Hating your fellow Christian is not only a sin, but leads to other sins.
Now just to clarify, although John is talking specifically about the reader’s attitude towards fellow believers, that doesn’t mean that you’re allowed to hate non-Christians. This is the kind of radical love Jesus has in mind:
“You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
I think it’s important to also clarify something here. What does the Bible mean when it says hate? Because I don’t think it’s exactly the same as the English word. If we go by the english word ‘hate’ than this is pretty easy. Hate is a strong word, and few of us have the level of enmity in us that you might have in mind when you hear the word hate. In fact the Biblical word is probably softer. The Lexham Theological Wordbook has this definition:
μισέω (miseō). vb. hate. To strongly dislike or have aversion toward someone or something that usually results in separation between the one who hates and the thing hated.
This verb is the usual Septuagint translation of Hebrew שָׂנֵא (śānēʾ, “to hate”). In the NT, hating (miseō) is often contrasted with loving (ἀγαπάω, agapaō; e.g., Matt 5:43; Rom 9:13; Heb 1:9; 1 John 2:9–11; φιλέω, phileō; John 12:25; 15:19), and generally implies separating oneself from that which is hated either by physical separation (Luke 19:14) or cessation of actions, thoughts, or ideas (Rev 2:6).
This means that the Bible’s definition of hate sets a lower bar for what counts as hate. Dislike or aversion that results in seperation? By that definition I think a lot of us have been hating. Who hasn’t separated themselves from someone they dislike or have an aversion towards? You see the Bible has a definition of hate that makes it easier to call ourselves hateful and a definition of love that makes it harder to call ourselves loving. God sets the bar a lot higher than we might like to if we had our preference.
But what does this all mean for the disciple of Jesus? It means we need some serious introspection. We need to ask ourselves whether we are seperating ourselves from others, and thereby hating them. Do we need to reach out to some people who make us feel uncomfortable and make an effort to connect with them? We can’t have real fellowship unless we do.
John doesn’t just tell us not to hate in this passage though, he also tells us what we should be doing, the path that we should be taking, which is the way of love.
The Way of Love
The Way of Love
The one who loves his brother or sister remains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
Loving our brothers and sisters in Christ is here supplied as the method for remaining in the light, and having “no cause for stumbling.” I think the reason for this is twofold. First because loving our brother is one of the chief commands given to us by Jesus. We in fact already quoted the Leviticus passage which tells us to love our neighbor, which Jesus quotes in answer to the question “which is the most important commandment?” as the second most important commandment. Second, because fellowship and accountability are key ways that we build each other up to greater holiness. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up. Also, if two lie down together, they can keep warm; but how can one person alone keep warm? And if someone overpowers one person, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.
In other words where one person fails two or three together can stand.
Proverbs 27:17 (CSB)
Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another.
A dull knife is a lot less useful than a sharp knife. Similarly we help each other to grow in our usefulness in the kingdom by standing side by side and helping each other. You see God never intended us to do this alone. Even in the beginning woman was created so that man would not be alone and the first command to the first couple was to “go forth and multiply” so that there would be a multitude of people. Likewise Christianity or discipleship is a team sport not an individual sport. Consider in Hebrews, where the author is talking about the implications of Jesus’ blood purifying us and immediately pivots to encouraging working together. Hebrews 10:19-25
Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus—he has inaugurated for us a new and living way through the curtain (that is, through his flesh)—and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since he who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.
This is why live streams and video recorded sermons will never truly replace church attendance. It’s never been about singing songs or even about hearing some guy give a sermon. It’s about worshipping God and being together. In other words what John was saying earlier in this very letter, Fellowship with God and each other. 1 John 1:3
what we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
There’s something of a pun to the idea that we “remain in the light” and “have no cause for stumbling.” Anyone who’s walked around in the dark before knows how easy it is to find things to stumble over, literally, in the dark. Shining a light makes your odds of stumbling plummet. Walking in love with our brothers and sisters helps to light the way before us so that we can see clearly. So in contrast to walking in hate and darkness the one who loves has clear vision and it helps them not to sin. Notice it says that the one who loves has no cause for stumbling in him. In other words the internal temptation to sin comes from a place of hate not of love. So if we can truly love one another the internal motivation to sin will be gone. Some day in the New Heavens and New Earth we will be perfectly loving and sin will be no more.
In the meantime, what is the disciple of Jesus to do? To live lives of love. This letter especially is focused on loving our fellow Christians, in other words of growing in discipleship. We know from elsewhere in Scripture that we are to love everyone, including those who are outside of our fellowship, but those inside our fellowship should be our closest friends and confidants. We share something special, fellowship with Christ, that sets us apart and gives us the oportunity to have a depth of relationship that is otherwise impossible. Sharing in the light of His love we can be a well-equipped army locking shields together and facing this world together. We often read 1 Corinthians 13 at weddings thinking of romantic love, but Paul actually wrote it as instructions on loving fellow Christians when you consider it in context. So hear these words and think of your fellow believers 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Really at the end of the day there’s just one big application to this sermon. The three points all lead to the same conclusion: love don’t hate. It’s the timeless and eternal command of God. Paul himself says that faith hope and love will endure, but love is the greatest.
We should start with this love with each other and then take it out to the world. We should stand shoulder to shoulder in fellowship with God and each other. What is the new command that isn’t really new that Jesus gives us? John 13:34-35
“I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
So we become better disciples by love, and we become a testimony to the world that we are disciples by love. So both of our goals are accomplished really in the same way. So why don’t we pray for the Holy Spirit to bring us together in love so that we can be the light of the world that we’re meant to be. Let us pray.